Gravure brings biennial award to Turkish artist

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Didem Mediha Türemen won an award in Florence for her gravure work. AA photo

Turkish artist Didem Mediha Türemen, who became interested in gravures three years ago, represented Turkey in this year’s Florence Biennial that took place between Nov. 30 and Dec. 8, picking up an award for her work.

The main theme of the ninth biennial was “Ethics: DNA of Art” and it was joined by 450 artists from 50 countries. Türemen won the Lorenzo il Magnifico (Lorenzo the Magnificent) prize, which was named after Italian Renaissance art patron Lorenzo de’ Medici in the category of “works on paper” for her engraving.

Working in the workshop of his painter and uncle Ali İsmail Türemen, the artist said it was a big pleasure to be invited to the ninth Florence Biennial. She said “gravure in lithograph” was a very common technique in the 1960s and good examples still existed in the present day.

“Gravure brought many Turkish artists on the international level. This is my first award related to gravure. My gravures have been displayed abroad. I opened my first exhibition in September,” she said.

Speaking about the biennial, Türemen said it was a very active and colorful event. “Paintings, sculptures and works on paper were evaluated by a jury of nine people in categories including photograph, installation, digital art and others. The name of the biennial award is named after Lorenzo Il Magnifico – known as Lorenzo the Magnificent – who was one of the best names in the Renaissance. Besides these categories, the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Anish Kapoor,” she added.

She said German painter Albrecht Dürer had made a water painting named “Wing of a Blue Roller” in 1512 and it was being displayed in Albertina in Vienna.

“I joined the biennial with the gravure that I named ‘Respect to Dürer.’ I used a few techniques in the same work. My work was seen worth of the Lorenzo İl Magnifico in the category of ‘works on paper,’” Türemen said, adding that it was a different technique that cannot be found everywhere.

The artist noted that her first exhibition of gravure and photographs opened in September. “There is a tie between all of these. Each of them has an effect on each other. It makes me dynamic.”

Türemen is also interested in cinema and took acting education at the Mimar Sinan University Faculty of Fine Arts. She acted in the leading role in a film titled “Rüzgarlar” (Winds). She said she also wanted to play the role of a gravure artist in a cinema film.